36 Points But Who’s Counting

Scotty X has been playing the great game of golf for decades. When he is not missing putts he is writing stuff about why he is missing putts. Scotty changes putters more often than he changes his sheets. Rain, hail, or shine you will find him on the links lining up a shot. Losing by one stroke in the monthly medal is his bread and butter. Worrying about head movements, weight shifts, and shaft angles is par for the course for this gentleman. Nobody struggles with the transition like Scotty and no one suffers from golfer's elbow and a bad knee like this fella. If god existed he would be a golfer in this golf tragic's philosophy. There are far more than 10 commandments in the rules of golf.

Just scored 36 points for my afternoon on the golf course. 36 big one’s for all my hard work on and around the greens. Thirty six Stableford points means shooting your allotted handicap on the day for those not in the know. It means I can walk tall for the rest of the week rather than feel small for failing. This is the funny thing about golf and its strictures within clubland. We toil and do battle with ourselves and the golf course in a bid to reach parity and possibly glory. A pass mark is 36 points but who’s counting.

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An Ode To Thirty Six Points

In reality, most of the time many of us fall short of that magical mark. A lot of us scrape in for 30 points and see it as a bearable score, especially as we get older. Of late, 36 points has been a distant land off in the distance. A mirage shimmering away always just out of reach, it seems. Something invariably happens at some point during the round that puts paid to any hopes for glory.

Often times, over the closing holes the bogeys mount up like a monument to mediocrity. Missed putts become more the norm than the exception. Getting up and down is something that occurs in the middle of the night going for a piss.

Grateful For 36 Points

On this day, however, I banked those bloody 36 points on my finished score card. I registered my booty with the signature of my playing partner. It was not two sets of 18 points. Rather, it was 20 and 16. I wiped the 17^th and missed the par putt on the 18^th. So, I stumbled in and over the line like a marathon runner out of puff. I could have been disappointed at not finishing in style and winning the whole thing, but times have been lean of late.

I was grateful for the thirty six points.

Golf & What 36 Means

I can call up the memory of this achievement for the rest of the week. It may sound somewhat tragic or a little bit sad to some. Not so for this golfer in current form or lack thereof. Golf is a demanding game played over four plus hours. One lapse of concentration on the green can cost shots. It is easy to give them away and much harder to get them back. The mental game often times makes a mockery of us mere human beings. So, I will savour these 36 points this week. See in my mind’s eye a cake with 36 candles lit before me. Think on the number 36 sweetly.

Associate a modicum of success with my golfing ability. Have a few less demons plaguing my week ahead. Perhaps, think upon those beautiful figures last thing before I fall asleep. Ah, yes 36 what a number to achieve.

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